Candace’s Corner
· 10 coolest summer getaways in Arizona: Mountains, lakes and a chilly cave trek
· Spirit Hour: Royal Scot Cocktail in honor of St. Margaret of Scotland
· Bucket List: Vineyard World Tour: Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod
· Pray Day 2 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
· Foodie: Lobster Rolls
JUNE 10 Whit Tuesday
1
Corinthians, chapter 2, Verse 3-15
I came to you in weakness and FEAR and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
It
is God’s desire that we be wise not in the way of the world but in the ways of
eternity.
Human wisdom[1]
Greek tradition of wisdom was based in argumentations. The Greeks lived to argue. Arguments (discussions) & logics were entertainments. Interests in philosophies and rhetoric was based not only what is said, but how it is said. Always looking for something profound (deep meaning)
Jews have their
wisdom tradition which includes the wisdom Literatures.
1. Job – story of a man who did right
& suffers
2. Psalms – classic wisdom, praise,
laments, etc
3. Proverbs – classic wisdom: do right
& no suffering
4. Ecclesiastes – meaning of life
5. Song of Songs – intimate relationship with God
Gnostics
tradition of wisdom and knowledge was a heresy in the early church, a bad
theology based on “Secret knowledge” that is needed for salvation. All matters
are evil, spirit is good. Gnostics denied the humanity of Christ “For Christ
did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel –not with words of (human)
wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power (made void)” “For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved, it is the power of God.” The Cross – is the Message. “For the
foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is
stronger than man’s strength.”
Whit
Tuesday
Introit of the Mass is again a song
of joy: " Receive the joy of your glory, alleluia; giving thanks to God,
alleluia; Who hath called you to a heavenly kingdom. Attend, O My people, to My
law, incline your ears to the words of My mouth."
Prayer.
May the power of the Holy Ghost be
with us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, which may mercifully purify our hearts and de
fend them from all adversities. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and
reigneth in the unity of the same.
EPISTLE. Acts viii. 14-17.
In those days: When the apostles
who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God;
they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For He was not as yet come upon any of
them: but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid
their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Explanation.
The Samaritans had been converted
and baptized by Philip the Deacon. Peter and John administered to them, by the
imposition of hands and prayer, the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Is
Confirmation a sacrament?
Yes, for Jesus Christ has promised
the Holy Ghost not only to the apostles, but also to all the faithful, to
confirm them fully in faith and charity.
What
is the outward sign of this sacrament?
The imposition of the bishop’s
hands, the anointing with the chrism, and the words of the bishop.
What
grace is conveyed through this sacrament?
Through holy Confirmation, God
confirms and completes in the Christian the grace of Baptism, and strengthens
him for the combat with his spiritual enemies. Confirmation, like Baptism,
cannot be received more than once, because the grace received in these
sacraments is always efficacious if we only cooperate with it; and because in
these sacraments we receive also an in delible character, which forever
distinguishes the souls of those who have been baptized and confirmed from
those who have not.
GOSPEL. John x. 1-10.
At
that time Jesus said to the Pharisees: Amen, amen, I say to you: he that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the
same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice:
and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he hath
let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because
they know his voice. But a stranger they follow not, but fly from him, because
they know not the voice of strangers. This proverb Jesus spoke to them. But
they understood not what He spoke to them. Jesus therefore said to them again:
Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All others, as many as
have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not. I am the
door. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go
out, and shall find pastures. The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to
kill and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more
abundantly.
How is this parable to be understood?
The sheepfold is the Church, or congregation of the
faithful; the door for the flock is Baptism; for the pastors, lawful vocation
and mission from God, through their spiritual superiors; the chief pastor is
Christ; the sheep are the faithful; the invisible door-keeper is the Holy
Ghost, inasmuch as He prepares hearts for Jesus; the visible door-keeper is the
bishop or his representatives. The thieves and robbers are the Pharisees and
heretics of all ages, who lead astray the sheep of Christ, and destroy their
spiritual life by false doctrines. If we would not become the prey of thieves
and murderers, we must follow the doctrines of the teachers and pastors whom
Christ has appointed for His Church.
Which are the fruits of the Holy Ghost? They are the twelve following:
1. Charity.
2.
Joy.
3. Peace.
4. Patience.
5. Benignity.
6. Goodness.
7. Longsuffering.
8. Mildness.
9. Faith.
10. Modesty.
11.
Continency.
12.
Chastity.
These fruits
should be visible in the Christian, for thereby men shall know that the Holy
Ghost dwells in him, as the tree is known by its fruit.
Notice I have
placed the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in stairstep fashion so we may
reflect on them seeing that by concentrating on each step of our growth in the
spirit we may progress closer and closer to our heavenly Father. Today we will
be focusing on the second step which is continency.
Apostolic Exhortation[2]
Veneremur
Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling
of The Most
Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My beloved Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
Part III
Loving and Adoring the
Eucharistic Lord
V. Brother priests, make the
Eucharist the source of all your priestly fruitfulness.
92. Holy Thursday is the day in
which Christ instituted the inseparable Sacraments of the Eucharist and Holy
Orders. As the Church has reminded us in countless ways, Holy Orders, in
particular the Priesthood, is ordered to the Eucharist. For this reason, I
offer this Exhortation on Holy Thursday, not only to all the faithful, but in a
special way to my brother priests.
93. From where does true
priestly fruitfulness spring? Saint John Paul II was a priest who bore much
fruit in his over fifty years of priestly ministry: his teaching, preaching,
missionary trips, social and political impact, and wise shepherding the Church
through many challenges, to name but a few. But his priestly “success” wasn’t
the result of his own natural talents or unaided work ethic. In a
teleconference, he once shared with the young people of Los Angeles that it was
his daily closeness to the Eucharistic mystery from which everything flowed. “I
am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood. Nothing means more
to me or gives me greater joy than to celebrate Mass each day and to serve
God’s people in the Church. That has been true ever since the day of my
ordination as a priest. Nothing has ever changed it, not even becoming Pope”
(September 15, 1987). Despite the almost unimaginable demands of his schedule,
he knelt before the Eucharist in private prayer each day.
94. When a priest makes time each day simply to be in the presence of the Eucharistic Christ, he is tapping into the deepest source of his priesthood: Jesus himself. Even when prayer seems dry or challenging, this time “wasted” with the Lord becomes the taproot for pastoral charity. How the Lord’s words to His chosen Apostles at the Last Supper penetrate the heart of us priests when we feel discouraged, alone, or a failure: “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit” (Jn 15:5). When we priests have the courage to spend daily time in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we find ourselves surprised and even overwhelmed, again and again, in the great mystery that He is truly and personally with us, that He is bringing life and fruit through even our most painful experiences, and that before He desires us to work, He wants to be with us like a father, brother, and friend.
To be continued…
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Day 358 2794-2802
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO-THE LORD'S PRAYER
Article 2-"OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN"
IV. "Who Art in Heaven"
2794 This
biblical expression does not mean a place (“space"), but a way of being;
it does not mean that God is distant, but majestic. Our Father is not
"elsewhere": he transcends everything we can conceive of his
holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he is so close to the
humble and contrite heart.
"Our
Father who art in heaven" is rightly understood to mean that God is in the
hearts of the just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that
those who pray should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them.
"Heaven" could also be those who bear the image of the heavenly
world, and in whom God dwells and tarries.
2795 The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the mystery of the covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant, but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven. Jn Christ, then, heaven and earth are reconciled, for the Son alone "descended from heaven" and causes us to ascend there with him, by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.
2796 When the
Church prays "our Father who art in heaven," she is professing that
we are the People of God, already seated "with him in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus" and "hidden with Christ in God;" yet at
the same time, "here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly
dwelling."
[Christians]
are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their
lives on earth but are citizens of heaven.
IN BRIEF
2797 Simple and
faithful trust, humble and joyous assurance are the proper dispositions for one
who prays the Our Father.
2798 We can
invoke God as "Father" because the Son of God made man has revealed
him to us. Jn this Son, through Baptism, we are incorporated and adopted as
sons of God.
2799 The Lord's
Prayer brings us into communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
At the same time it reveals us to ourselves (cf GS 22 # 1).
2800 Praying to
our Father should develop in us the will to become like him and foster in us a
humble and trusting heart.
2801 When we say
"Our" Father, we are invoking the new covenant in Jesus Christ,
communion with the Holy Trinity, and the divine love which spreads through the
Church to encompass the world.
2802 "Who art in heaven" does not refer to a place but to God's majesty and his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father's house, is the true homeland toward which we are heading and to which, already, we belong.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Establishing
true Catholic governance
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Religion in the Home for
Preschool: June
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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